Last Updated on January 3, 2021
GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is in negotiations with Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to block the reported 140+ representatives and a dozen senators who have publicly announced their intentions to object to controversial slates of electors submitted from contested states with credible accusations of widespread voter fraud, senior Capitol Hill sources tell National File.
Our sources explain that a McCarthy and Pelosi effort to stymie the grassroots-led effort to pursue a transparent 2020 election would mark a decided break from the populist flavored politics of the last four years back toward the bi-partisan days of back room deals, horse trading, and pay-to-play lobbying D.C. is so famous for.
National File’s sources also note that Vice President Mike Pence, as the presiding officer of the joint session of Congress scheduled for January 6, would almost certainly be informed of this effort.
Such a move would almost certainly derail Minority Leader McCarthy’s chances of one day assuming the role of House Speaker, multiple sources tell National File.
The move would be designed to stop a potential contingent election in the House of Representatives. If the Republican-led Senate and Pence were to refuse to accept Electoral College votes from states with credible accusations of widespread voter fraud, and neither President Donald Trump nor Joe Biden receive the requisite 270 electoral votes, a contingent election would be required in the House of Representatives.
In a contingent election, each state represented in the House only receives one vote. As National File previously reported, “While the House of Representatives has more representatives based on population, there are currently 27 states that have sent Republican representatives to the House, and 20 states that have sent Democratic representatives to the House. Three states have an even split.”
In an email to National File, McCarthy’s office explicitly denied that he is working to block this, contradicting multiple senior Congressional staff members who spoke to National File.
Since the election, McCarthy has been an unreliable ally of the President’s at best. In November, shortly after the election was contested by President Donald Trump, McCarthy caved to corporate media pressure after initially declaring President Trump the victor of the 2020 election.
McCarthy later claimed that he did not declare President Trump the winner of the 2020 election at all, “but rather was crediting the president with Republican wins in House races.”
Though the McCarthy may have appeared to be close to President Trump through the 2020 election, McCarthy loudly repudiated President Trump’s effort to withdraw troops from Syria in late 2019.
Additionally, in 2016, McCarthy privately commented that President Trump was one of two Republican politicians on the Russian payroll, and specifically said that he believes President Trump was funded by Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling into question McCarthy’s multiple public assurances that he is working on behalf of President Trump. He later claimed he made the comment in jest after it was reported by The New York Times.
New York Magazine‘s Intelligencer took McCarthy’s joke on its face, explaining then Majority Leader’s laughing: “While it is true that McCarthy and Ryan laughed during their conversation, people laugh all the time at statements they recognize as completely true.”
Many have noted that former Rep. Paul Ryan, who has reportedly privately derided President Trump, and been blamed by the President for failing to enact his agenda during the first two years of the administration, is a significant backer of McCarthy. Since leaving Congress, Ryan now works at Fox News.
In 2018, McCarthy enjoyed the vocal support of Ryan, who endorsed McCarthy as House Speaker if Republicans had held the majority. “Kevin McCarthy is my goal,” said Ryan. “I think he’s going to be the next speaker of the House,” Ryan said in 2018.
During the Trump administration, McCarthy has shown willingness to block Pelosi’s parliamentary tricks before, most notably in budget bills. But even when disagreeing with Pelosi on budget matters, some argue that McCarthy only pays lip service to their differences by highlighting the fact that he likes the bill’s bipartisan nature.
In an email to National File, McCarthy’s office explicitly denied that the Minority Leader is working with Pelosi, calling it “100 percent false,” and noting that “The rules governing January 6 are set by the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act of 1887.”
“Members and senators will be allowed to object and any attempt to interfere with those objections will be met and vigorously opposed,” McCarthy’s office added.
National File also asked McCarthy’s office if Pence has any knowledge of potential rule changes proposed by Pelosi. We did not receive a response addressing this question.
